Blakehill Farm Nature Reserve

A 264-hectare former military airfield near Cricklade, now a wildlife-rich hay meadow and pasture. The site is flat and easy to navigate on tarmac tracks, suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs. Blakehill is the biggest open grassland site in North Wiltshire and home to brown hare, roe deer, grass snake, and adders-tongue fern. The grassland supports farmland birds including barn owls, short-eared owls, curlew, wheatears, stonechats and skylarks. Butterflies include small copper, brown hairstreak, common blue and marbled white. The old wartime runways can still be traced by changes in vegetation. Entry is free and the reserve is open at all times. Dogs are not permitted due to ground-nesting birds and livestock.